A volcano in Iceland is erupting after weeks of increased activity—and it could go on for months, a scientist has warned.
The Fagradalsfjall volcano, which lies on the Reykjanes peninsula near the town of Grindavik, forcefully erupted on Monday, with lava flows pouring out of a 2.5 mile long fissure.
This region has now seen four volcanic eruptions in three years. This particular eruption is also spewing much more lava compared with other eruptions.
When the volcano started to display an uptick in activity in November, around 4,000 people living nearby were evacuated. As the eruption continues, many can say goodbye to hopes of spending Christmas at home.
So how long will this eruption last? Daniel Douglass, teaching professor in marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern University's Marine Science Center, believes it could be weeks, or even months, before it stops.
"It will end eventually—there's not an endless body of magma that will be released — but how long it takes depends on how much magma needs to come out, and I've not heard any prediction of whether this is going to be days, weeks or months," he said in a Northeastern Global News article on December 19.
The eruption is still in its early stages, meaning it is incredibly difficult to predict when it may let up. What we do know, is that the scale of the eruption appears to have died down since it started.
"The initial force of eruption was pretty impressive, and there's been a decrease in activity since then," Douglass said. "There was a report of five main places where lava is coming out now, but the flow rate has subsided from the surge of the initial eruption."
In short, the eruption will end once all the lava has come out. But the exact size of the magma chamber is hard to know for certain.
The main concern is how a prolonged eruption will affect the surrounding area. Although the volcano is in a fairly remote location, the vicinity is home to thousands of people and according to Douglass, there is a power plant and tourist attraction not far from where the eruption is occurring.
"If it doesn't keep erupting long enough, those places will probably not be affected, but there's the chance the lava does make it that far," Douglass said.
Officials don't expect this eruption to bury the surrounding area in dust, but the potential for some damage cannot be ignored. There is also still the possibility that, although it has died down in recent days, the eruption could become more violent once again.
"Geologists think over thousands or millions of years," Douglass said. "And from geologists' thinking, this eruption may calm down but it's only a matter of time before an eruption happens again."
Iceland is no stranger to volcanic activity, as it is one of the most geologically active countries in the world. The country lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates regularly shift. It also lies above a suspected hot spot, where the land is fed by hot rock in the Earth's mantle.
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Robyn White is a Newsweek Nature Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on wildlife, science and the ... Read more
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